


We will always be together

by The_fangirling_fangirl



Category: Free!
Genre: Childhood Friends AU, M/M, everyone has memory issues in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 12:25:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4179804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_fangirling_fangirl/pseuds/The_fangirling_fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin-chan… do you like me?"  Now Ai's the one who is blushing, gaping at the other youth. </p><p>Both Haruka and Makoto are looking at him, almost as if they're studying an animal. All eyes are on Rin now. He feels more than a little pressured, to say the least. Thus, what escapes his lips, instead of a confession, is the following: </p><p>"I don't like you! I think Ai-chan is a loser, and the only reason I stare at him is because his haircut is dumb and his spot is ugly!"</p><p>And then, chaos unravels.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>or that one childhood friends au</p>
            </blockquote>





	We will always be together

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any spelling mistakes. And oocness. And the fact that I watched this show a million years ago. so I can't remember the timeline exactly. Hum, yeah.

"Rin-chan?"

A seven year old Makoto asks, pulling at the other boy's shirt. "Ne, Rin-chan, you like Ai-chan, don't you?"

This issue had always been something Makoto, Nagisa and Haru wondered. The two of them always seemed to dance around each other, one sending glances when the other wasn’t looking. Yet, no one dared to ask about it. Today, however, Makoto somehow had seemed to create some courage to ask Rin about it.

The redhead, who had been colouring a picture, turns with a half surprised and half scared look on his already blushing face. "I don't!" He exclaims, a bit too fast to convince Makoto.

"But, Rin-chan, I've seen you staring at him. And you also get really jealous every time he and Nagisa-chan play house and Nagisa-chan makes Ai-chan be the wife."

The little boy blushes with every word the other utters. "It's…only because Ai-chan makes a really good wife. And, hum, I only stare at him because his bowl cut is ridiculous."

"Rin, you're blushing." States Haruka, joining the conversation. The black haired boy is always by Makoto's side, almost like a shadow. They've always been together, ever since the two of them were babies.

"Am not." Denies the redhead, looking away, trying to hide his crimson face.

"Are too" answers Haru, almost as if he's bored by the conversation.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

Haru blinks, and doesn't answer. "But Rin-chan, we already know that Ai likes you." Offers Makoto, trying to calm him down. "You know that, right?"

Before the other can answer, said boy comes over and asks what's wrong, since Rin looked so upset. He also glances at Makoto and Haruka, but doesn't seem half as worried as he is about Rin. Neither of them mind it, though.

"There's nothing going on, Ai-chan, don't worry." Says, Rin, whose face has gone even redder now.

"We were just discussing about whether Rin likes you or not." Says Haru, bluntly.

"Haru!" Both Makoto, who's embarrassed about the lack of politeness of his friend, and Rin, who still is denying his liking of Ai, called out.

"What?" Asks the other, seemingly unfazed by it.

"Rin-chan… do you like me?" Now Ai's the one who is blushing, gaping at the other youth.

Both Haruka and Makoto are looking at him, almost as if they're studying an animal. All eyes are on Rin now. He feels more than a little pressured, to say the least. Thus, what escapes his lips, instead of a confession, is the following:

"I don't like you! I think Ai-chan is a loser, and the only reason I stare at him is because his haircut is dumb and his spot is ugly!"

And then, chaos unravels.

Ai starts crying, with loud sobs and big fat warm tears coming from his eyes. Makoto and Haruka both go to his rescue, Makoto saying kind words to the little boy, and Haru hovering over, quiet, but with an overall kind aura to him.

Rin only runs.

After a few years, he realises that's what he's best at.

Ai doesn't go the rest of the week. He almost stops going completely, but when he does come, he doesn't talk to Rin, nor the other boys. Instead, he stays alone in his corner, even though the teacher tries to make him play with the other children.

By the end of the month, the children in their class receive a letter, saying that, unfortunately, Aiichirou had to move away, and go to another school.

Rin, even as a little child, has a feeling in his gut that he's the reason Ai had to move away, the reason Ai never talked to Makoto, Haruka, or Nagisa again. The reason he left without telling them, that he only left a letter so the teacher could tell them about it later, when he was already miles away from that place.

...

When he moves to Australia, in order to improve his swimming skills and finally beat Haruka (that's all he's been thinking about, trying to occupy his mind with, since he doesn't like to think about what he calls The Incident) he notices that he misses not only Ai, but Makoto, Nagisa and Haru too.

There's also the fact that he knows he's only running away from his responsibilities. On the other hand, it's easier not to think about that and think only about swimming.

He doesn't tell them about his visit to Japan during winter break. He knows that his family hasn't moved, and that he can find any of them any time in Iwatobi (except for Ai, of course) yet, he believes he won't. He hopes, at least.

His beliefs, however, are wrong, and he ends up finding Haruka. He thinks, that of course, he's been in Australia for a year, he can certainly beat Haru now.

He doesn't beat him.

He asks his mom to leave earlier that day.

(He knows he's running away again, but he also knows he can't help it.)

After that, he doesn't come back home at all in the other years.

...

Years pass, and his time in Australia finally ends.

His memory has become blurry, now he can't exactly remember what he said to Ai back then, he almost can't remember what did the boy's face looked like. He can’t even remember the boy’s full name, for fuck’s sake.

He still remembers that he hurt him, though.

And that almost kills him inside.

...

In his first day as a second year in Samezuka, one of the best swimming schools in Japan who also happens to be in Iwatobi, he doesn't expect his roommate to be a dorky first year, whose smile is familiar, and exact first words to him are:

"Top or bottom?"

"w-what?!"

The boy asks once again, “would you rather have the top bunk, or the bottom bunk, Senpai?"

Rin lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and answers "I…can have the bottom one."

His kouhai smiles cutely, "yay! I get the top one!" And proceeds to climb onto said bunk, taking all his things with him, including his duck plush and duck themed Pyjamas. “My name's Nitori, what is yours?"

Rin half smiles. “You can call me Matsuoka Senpai, Nitori."

The other boy grins excitedly. “Sure, Matsuoka Senpai!"

...

Afterwards, both of them manage to join the swim team (Nitori says he's always swam, even though he doesn't strike him as a swimmer type), and their schedules become pretty intricate, considering that they're both from different years. Nitori will make sure Rin doesn't over do his training. Rin, in turn, will help him with his English, and make training regimens for him to train his stroke.

He ends up meeting the old gang again (except for Ai) when he's sulking at their old swim club. Haruka and Nagisa don't seem to have changed that much; Haru is still as quiet as ever, and Nagisa still resembles a puppy who drank Red Bull. The one who has changed the most is Makoto; he's gained muscle and grown a lot, but still is as kind as ever.

When he leaves their old trophy behind, he feels as if he's left part of him behind as well. He can still feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins, and the joy of winning the relay. He can still hear Ai cheering for him at that day.

After that, he sees Haru again, and races him.

He wins.

It doesn't feel like a real win, nonetheless. It feels as if he's cheating. He knows Haru hasn't practiced. Thus, he leaves, feeling angry. With whom, though, he doesn't know.

When he gets to his room, Nitori is waiting for him, lantern on, and he points it at his face when he enters.

"Senpai?"

"Ugh, Nitori, get this out of my face."

"But are you okay? It's so late and-"

"I don't want to talk about it." He cuts off Nitori. He feels a little guilty, but he'll certainly remember to apologise to him in the morning.

He doesn't.  
...

The first time Rin ever realises he probably has more than only friend feelings towards Nitori, is when he checks out Nitori's ass during practice. It's just so nice, especially in that swim suit. It's round and plump, but not too much. It almost looks like a girl's. He also appreciates the arch of his back, it would certainly look good bend over under him, moaning—

He shakes it off, blushing a bit, and does ten more laps, just to relieve the tension he'd been feeling in his lap.

The second time, it's when Nitori's just out of the shower, with a small towel wrapped (duck-themed, of course) around his waist and he notices that his chest has got no hair on and muscle, but just the right amount. His pink nipples also look delicous, and probably would be even more if with him teasing them…

He shakes his head, looks down at his lap, at his bulge in under the towel, curses, then decides to take another bath. Rin also decides that it's probably hormones, and the lack of women in the school. After all, Nitori is the closest thing to a girl there, and there's absolute no way he's attracted to a guy.

The third time it happens, it's more than a little embarrassing. It starts out as a normal dream, very normal indeed, just him and a random girl, with big tits and moaning under him. Suddenly, the girl makes a sound, something he can't quite catch. She does it a second time, then he hears it clearly;

"M-Matsuoka senpai!"

After that, the girl is Nitori, with his bowl cut and grey hair, beauty mark, and it's him who's writhing under him, moaning his name, and he pounds into him, harder and harder and harder-

He wakes up. His bed is full of dry cum, so he changes the sheets. He hopes Nitori hasn't been woken up by his dream, and checks the top bunk. Nitori seems as peaceful as ever, his chest rising and falling in deep slumber.

The morning afterwards, he starts to think it's not only hormones, not only his teenage urges manifesting on the closest reference to a girl. He doesn't say anything to Nitori, and convinces himself it's for the best.

After a while, he finally realises he's attracted to Nitori, and eventually comes to terms with it.

...

One night, Nitori almost finds out about it. It happened as the following:

"Matsuoka-senpai, do you have a girlfriend?"

The question is so unexpected that Rin almost thinks he misheard it."What?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?" The first year repeats, now staring at him from the top of his bunk.

"Nah." Answers him, not looking up from his homework.

"But do you want one?" Nitori hugs his duck plush tightly.

"Definitely not. Too much trouble."

"Really?" His eyes widen. “I’d really like one. I'd love to have someone to cuddle with. And to kiss. It must be really nice." He says, looking away.

Rin turns around now fully looking at him now. "Uh?"

"Never mind, Senpai. But you do like someone, right?"

Rin nods.

"What's she like?" The other asks, suddenly seeming less excited than a second ago.

"She's…"he stops. Should he do this? He decides fuck it.

"She's beautiful. She's got this little beauty mark in her face and even though she's really self-conscious about it, it's really cute. Her eyes are like the sky in a summer day. Her skin is almost like a lily. It's not only her face, though. It's her personality. She's kind. She could probably be a Disney princess. The way she blushes also is really cute. Her face gets all red, like a rose." Rin suddenly stops his monologue. He has a feeling he's said too much.

Nitori looks depressed, but moved, somehow. His brows are furrowed, and his eyes look teary, and Rin can't fathom why. "Senpai, that's so beautiful! She reminds me of someone, I don’t know who, though."

Rin is alarmed, but looks away, blushing slightly. He sighs. "It's not, really. I don't deserve her at all." He rubs the back of neck.

His kouhai frowns at this. “Of course you do, Senpai! You're really nice."

Rin looks at him, and it feels like someone just stabbed his heart. It hurts him to think that Nitori thinks this. Because Nitori doesn't know it's him who Rin's talking about. He's still sure that he does not, and probably will not deserve him.

...

Summer passes, and then comes autumn. The weather starts to get colder, and all the leaves turn either brown or red. Autumn is uneventful. Some time passes, and it’s winter at last.

Rin has finally come to terms with the Iwatobi team, and he feels like his heart is lighter. His crush on Nitori hasn't changed at all. However, winter break comes, and Rin knows they'll be apart. He packs his stuff, and helps Nitori pack his things (including his duck plush, plus a shark one, courtesy of Rin on his birthday) as well.

When he finally gets home, his mom has got a surprise for him. The elder woman, who's got hair as red as her offspring, greets Rin with a tight hug and loads of food (according to her, Rin's always too thin).

It's during one of her many family dinners that she drops the bomb:

"Rin, darling, I wonder if you remember that childhood friend of yours? The one who moved away?"

He suddenly looks up from his plate, eyes widening. “What…what about him?"

"Well, you see, I found out they moved back to Iwatobi about a year ago, can you believe it?" She grins. ”I met his mom in the supermarket some time ago. Since both of you were studying, we decided that you two should meet during Winter break! Isn't that great?" She asks.

It's not. He's not sure if he can handle seeing Ai after such a long time. He's not sure if he can handle seeing Ai ever again, for that matter. What if Ai doesn't remember him? What if he holds a grudge against him? What if he doesn't want to see him? What if…

"Onii, are you okay?" Gou asks, a concerned look on her face. "You look worried."

He snaps out of his trance, and looks at his sister, then nods. He then, casted an apprehensive look upon his mother. “Are you sure he wants to?"

His mother laughs. “Oh, don't worry; his mother told me he's really been looking forward to it since the beginning of winter break."

Rin's eyes widen, and he nods once again. From there on, the subject drops, and they start talking about swimming.

...

When the day finally comes, Rin is a pile of nerves. They're only supposed to be there at three, but he starts getting ready around two.

He's finishing getting ready when his sister bursts into his room "Onii-chan, you and mom have to get going, or you're going to be late!" He nods, and goes out to find his mom so they can get to the shopping.

When they get there, he's even more nervous than he was while dressing. His mind is clouded with questions about the boy that he hasn't seen for ten years.

He meets Ai's mom, a nice little lady, who instantly recognises them from far away. She greets his mom with a hug, and Rin with a handshake and begins to talk. "Rin, it's so nice to see you again! It's been such a long time, I haven't seen you since you were little!"

Rin's about to ask about Ai, but he is interrupted by his mom, who seems to be able to read his mind:

"Don't you worry about Ai, though, he is coming. I'm afraid he's run into a bit of trouble. You see, he spilled a bit of juice on his shirt, so he was changing it when I left the house. I'll tell him where you are, and he'll be here in a minute."

"Oh. Alright, then." He says, half smiling. He was still as clumsy as he were when they were in Junior high. He supposes it's a good thing. His mom and Ai's then are off to some store, which according to them, had amazing prices.

...

He ends up sitting in one of the tables of a café near the spot where he met Ai's mom because he is tired, and is pretty sure Ai won't mind having a snack in a café. He hopes, that is.

It's been fifteen minutes, and he hasn't showed up yet. Rin wonders if he's given up on the meeting. He's thinking about leaving, when he notices a familiar face in the crowd. It's Nitori.

Apparently, Nitori also is in the mall. He's got a small box in his hands, as well. It doesn't take long for him to notice his Senpai is there as well. "Matsuoka-senpai!" He exclaims, and makes a beeline over to the place where Rin is sitting.

"Hi there." Rin half smiles, greeting his kouhai.

"Hi!" Nitori answers excitedly. “What are you doing here, Matsuoka-senpai?"

Rin's smile vanishes. “I’m…just waiting for someone." He shrugs.

Nitori nods. “I’m looking for someone too." He sighs. “They were supposed to be here, but I guess they got tired of waiting." He looks down, as if he's sad, and Rin wonders who the fuck would dump Nitori. He really wants to beat the shit out of them, for making Nitori look so sad.

"Well, you can always sit with me." He says, blushing slightly and looking anywhere but his face.” I mean, if you want to."

"Of course I do, senpai!"The other grinned. “How has you winter break been going so far? Mine's been so nice!"

Rin and Nitori talked for what seemed like minutes, but when Nitori's phone buzzed, indicating a message had come for him, he raised his eyebrows. “It’s already five? I'm sorry, I have to go. My mom's saying we have to leave now." He apologised, then stood up and disappeared in the middle of the crowd.

It was then that Rin realised that he hadn't seen Ai. The other boy hadn't appeared at any moment. He wondered what had happened to him. Nitori had also been looking for someone when he got there. The person seemingly dumped him. Once again, Rin wondered who the fuck would be dumb enough to dump Nitori.

And that's when he realised.

"I'm _looking for someone too. They were supposed to be here, but I guess they got tired of waiting."_

Nitori had been looking for him. Nitori was Ai. Nitori was the one who Rin had been waiting for.

He suddenly stood up, and ran in the middle of the crowd, hoping he could still catch him. He searched frantically for the other boy, when he finally observed a familiar head of grey hair. He ran to him, and the other turned around, startled.

"Matsuoka-Senpai? But what-"

However, he couldn't finish his phrase. Rin kissed him hungrily, snaking an arm around the other male's waist. Ai was surprised at first, but then he melted into kiss, reciprocating the action.

When they ran out breath, he looked up to Rin, his pupils blown wide. "Rin…chan?"

Rin hugged the other tightly. “If I'd know it was you, Ai-chan…" he sniffs onto the other's neck." I never meant to say that."

Ai smiles, hugging back with his eyes teary. "It's okay. I'm over it, now."

Rin cries onto his shoulder. “But even so, I…"

Ai shushes him with a soft kiss and wipes his tears. "Don't worry about that. We're together now."

And Rin knows, at that moment, that they'll always be together.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you're wondering, the Iwatobi team didn't recognize Ai at the joint practice or the festival because, lets be honest here, no one would remember a childhood friend's face after ten years. I think. Also, in Ai's box there was a necklace that Rin gave to him when they were children. Plus, I didn't even give Rin's mom a name what the fuck


End file.
